Acceptance
by nickie02
Summary: Some circumstances are hard for people to face, so hard that the brain goes into automatic mode to protect the heart.


Disclaimer: The characters portrayed in this story are the sole ownership of J.K. Rowling, the only thing that belongs to me is the plot line of this story.

AN: This story was put up by myself on another fanfiction site years ago with an account that has long been abandoned. This is the first piece of work that I have put on this site and the first time in years that I have put any fanfiction up. Please enjoy.

Acceptance

Hermione was standing in her robe, staring into her closet. She was trying to figure out what she was going to wear. While her closet was full, she couldn't decide what she was going to wear for the evening out on the town. It was Valentine's Day, the most romantic day of the year; it was one of the few times that she would dress up. She had a date tonight.

She pulled out two different dresses from the closet and placed them on the bed. She looked at them side by side. One of them was a black halter dress that had yards of satin flowing to the ground. It had some rhinestone around the neck line, just a few to accent the dress. The other was a sleeveless dress in royal blue that had a plunging neck line. It had an emperor waist that was knee length.

She walked into her bathroom, and started the water for a bath; she wanted to make sure that everything would be perfect for tonight. She went into the cupboard that was right next to the bath, and brought out the soap that Ron had bought for her; he had picked it up when they had been on vacation last year. He had snuck out to do some shopping of his own, and when he came upon a store that made there own soaps. It was scent that he had customized for her and she had fallen in love with the scent when he gave it to her.

She poured the soap into the running water, and let it bubble up before climbing into the steaming hot water. She always liked the water hot, it took away the tension that was always in her back. It felt nice especially with all the stress that there had been lately.

As she was washing her hair, she thought back to the night that Ron had asked to become his wife. He had taken her to her favorite restaurant. He had a bottle of champagne chilling at their table. They had talked about everyday things, eaten in comfortable silence. When they had finished their meal, they had gone out the park that was across the street from the restaurant. They had taken a moonlight walk over to a small pond that was in the middle of the park.

Ron had gotten down on one knee. He had been so nervous that when he pulled the black box out from his jacket he dropped a few times when he attempted to open the container. It had been a perfect night.

She looked down at the silver ring on her finger, noting that it was time to get polished up, it had lost some of its sparkle.

She got out of the water, wrapped herself in the robe that she had been wearing earlier. She wrapped a towel around her wet hair and pulled the plug on the tub. She walked back into her bedroom and took a seat at her vanity.

She picked up a framed picture of her and Ron, it was their engagement picture. Ron had been sitting on a chair, and had Hermione in his lap. She was looking down at him, while he was looking up at her. They were both smiling.

The picture was taken the same weekend that they had gone to her parents house to tell them about the engagement. Her parents had already known, because Ron had gone to her father and asked permission for Hermione's hand. So when Hermione had said that they were coming up, her parents had planned a party for them to celebrate their engagement.

She put the photo down as she continued to get ready for her date with Ron.

She applied lightly scented lotion that was in the same scent as the soap she had used in her the bath. She put on a just a touch of makeup, nothing much just a little bit of mascara and lip gloss.

She pulled her hair up into a French twist, and had a few tresses were down framing her face. She went to the bed, picked up the black dress. She stepped into the dress as she let the robe drop to the floor. She grabbed the matching shoes from inside the closet.

She went over to her jewelry box and pulled out a silver tennis bracelet. She held it in her hand for a moment remembering the night that Ron had given it to her. It had been there six month anniversary present. He had wanted to give her something that she would remember, that is what he told her anyways.

She slipped the bracelet on her wrist.

She looked one last time at herself in the mirror that was behind the door, before walking out the door of the bedroom.

Hermione arrived at the restaurant that they always went to for their Valentine's Day date. This was a tradition that they had started their first year of dating. She walked up the hostess's podium. The hostess was wearing a white button down shirt, with a black vest and black dress pants. "I have a reservation under Hermione Granger."

"Yes Ms. Granger, your date has not arrived yet, I will escort them when they arrive." The hostess said as she led Hermione over to a table for two, which was decorated in reds and pinks for Valentine's Day. "Can I start you off with anything?"

"A glass of water, please." Hermione said.

"Alright, I will be right back with your wine Ms. Granger."

Hermione picked up the menu and started looking through it. "Good evening miss, my name is Alex and I will be your waiter for the evening. Would you like to wait until your date gets here to order, or can I start you off with an appetizer?"

"I will wait for my date."

An hour later Hermione was sitting at the table, she was on her third glass of wine. She had decided to order and appetizer, because she had gotten hungry waiting for Ron to show up.

Harry walked into the restaurant, he walked up to the podium stand. "Can I help you?" The hostess asked.

"Yeah, I am Harry, you called me about Hermione."

"Yes, you left a message for you to be notified when she came in for dinner. How did you know that she was going to be here tonight?" The hostess asked.

"Because she is a creature of habit, as we all are." Harry said. He walked over to the table that Hermione was sitting and pulled the chair so that he was sitting right next to her. "Mione…"

"Harry James Potter, what are you doing here, I am suppose to be on a date with my fiancée?" Hermione said with slight anger in her voice. "He is just running a little bit late."

"Hermione, I need you to listen to me, we both know that Ron is not going to be here tonight." Harry said as softly as he could." Harry said as he took her hands in his own.

"He will be here, he loves me and knows how important this day is to me." Hermione said.

Harry tucked a piece of hair behind her ear so that it was in her face. "Hermione, Ron isn't going to be here tonight or any other Valentine's Day." Harry said.

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"Hermione, he was killed a month ago. You need to accept that he is gone."

"Harry I can't let him go."

"Hermione you need to let him go, this is not healthy for you. Ron is not on some extended mission, he is not going to walking through the doors of the restaurant or the door to your flat." Harry said as gently as he could. "I miss him too, but we have to learn to move on."

"Harry, I am two months pregnant with his child." Hermione said in a whisper as tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"Come here." Hermione leaned on her best friend as he wrapped his arms around her.

Hermione rested her head on Harry's shoulder as she released the tears and the pain that she had been denying herself for weeks. She had thought if she didn't think of him as gone, than there was still a chance that he would come home.

"Hermione, you are coming home with me to Grimmauld Place. Ginny is there waiting for us to come back, she is worried about you." Harry said.

"Alright, but I need to use the restroom quickly." Hermione walked away from him.

Harry went to the hostess's podium. "Could I get her ticket please?"

"Here you go." The hostess handed him the tab for her table. "So are you her boyfriend, the one that she has been waiting of for over an hour?"

"No, I am just her friend. She was waiting on her fiancée, but he was killed in the line of duty a month ago." Harry said. "Hermione, her fiancée Ron, and I were best friends since we started secondary school together. For thirteen years we have been inseparable and now we have to learn how to deal without part of us."

"I am so sorry for your lost." The woman said.

Hermione walked up to Harry. "Ready to go?"

She just nodded her head. She didn't trust her voice to work. He wrapped his arm around waist and she rested her head on his shoulder as he led her out of the restaurant and back to the harsh reality that Ron would never be walking back into her life.


End file.
